We got further information that "Steemcleaners" will downvote you with their Mack-bot if you post links un-approved first into any steem related discord groups. Also if you "cross-tag" which means you "Tag" or "Hashtag" a Keyword that is not actually related to that post. This is frowned on by steemit community and even attacked in response.

Promotion of yourself and your project and post is okay and approved on Steemit, however if someone requests you don't do that, keep a list on a spreadsheet. Be respectful!

Don't spam it though. Don't just show up advertising on other people's posts. If you thank them and leave a footer on your message like email, that's okay.

Thanks for the help from steemit community on discord for teaching us more about these issues!

The main attack came from us posting a link into a steemit chat group on discord. Boy did we get smoked for that one. O.O Be careful noobies where you walk, booby traps!